Leg supporting stool

ABSTRACT

A STOOL FOR SUPPORTING THE LEGS OF A PERSON SITTING IN A CHAIR, HAVING A PAIR OF OPPOSED FOOTED SIDE MEMBERS JOINED TOGETHER BY CROSS BARS, THERE BEING A VERTICAL GROOVE AND A SERIES OF DOWNWARDLY INCLINED FINGER EXTENSIONS FROM THE GROOVE ON THE FORWARD AND REARWARD PORTIONS OF THE INNER FACE OF EACH SIDE MEMBER, A GENERALLY HORIZONTAL LEG RECEIVING CUSHION OF L SHAPE IN LONGI-   TUDINAL CROSS SECTION WITH THE BASE OF THE L SHAPE DIRECTED UPWARDLY TO PROVIDE A FOOT ABUTTING SURFACE, PINS EXTENDING TOWARDLY AND LATERALLY FROM THE LOWER EDGES OF THE CUSHION NEAR THE ENDS THEREOF, SAID PINS BEING ADAPTED TO ENTER SELECTED FINGERS OF THE GROOVES FOR HOLDING THE CUSHION AT THE DESIRED HEIGHT AND ANGLE.

P 0, 1971 A.J.ATTINGER I 3,606,453

- LEG SUPPORTVING'STOOL Filed June 9, 1969 U 2 Sheets-Sheet .1

INVENTOR. ALVlN d. HTHNGER.

v BY

ALP. Qww

Sept. 20, 1971 A. J. ATTINGER LEG SUPPORTING STOOL Filed June 9,

2 S heets$heet 1 INVENTOR. ALVIN dAmNeER Lu. F? 4w PHTCRNEQ 3,606,458Patented Sept. 20, 1971 3,606,458 LEG SUPPORTING STOOL Alvin J.Attinger, 749 W. State Line Road, Toledo, Ohio 43612 Filed June 9, 1969,Ser. No. 831,339 Int. Cl. A47c 7/50, 9/12 US. Cl. 297439 Claims ABSTRACTOF THE DISCLOSURE A stool for supporting the legs of a person sitting ina chair, having a pair of opposed footed side members joined together bycross bars, there being a vertical groove and a series of downwardlyinclined finger extensions from the groove on the forward and rearwardportions of the inner face of each side member, a generally horizontalleg receiving cushion of L shape in longitudinal cross section with thebase of the L shape directed upwardly to provide a foot abuttingsurface, pins extending outwardly and laterally from the lower edges ofthe cushion near the ends thereof, said pins being adapted to enterselected fingers of the grooves for holding th cushion at the desiredheight and angle. I

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention pertains to stools forsupporting the legs of a person, sitting in a chair, in a raised andrestful position.

Ithas been well established that elevation and extended positioning ofthe legs is beneficial in retarding the progress and in alleviating thediscomfort and pain of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. As wellas being a treatment for such joint diseases, elevation of the legspromotes improved circulation therein. This is generally healthful butis of special importance to persons inclined to have swollen feet orvaricose veins due to aging, occupational or physical causes.

Armless ottomans and stools usually with four rigid corner legs and afixed height have been utilized throughout historic times for simpleseating furniture and foot rests. Folding stools were also an earlydevelopment. More recently the design of foot stools has beensupplemented by means for adjusting the height and angle of the legsupporting area.

The addition of such refinements have too frequently reduced thestrength and firmness of the stools, their ease of use and overallefficacy. Further, the adjusting means have generally failed to providethe full scope of desirable variations in the position of the legsupporting area.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is accordingly a principal object ofthis invention to devise a leg supporting stool which is sturdy, easy toadjust, conveniently receptive of the legs of the user, and one thatolfers a broad range of heights and angles of the receiving surface toaccommodate the particular physical characteristics of the personutilizing the stool and the particular design of chair on which he maybe seated.

The objects and advantages of the invention are attained at least inpart through a pair of opposed, vertically positioned, footed sidemembers joined by cross rods, a generally horizontal, preferablycushioned leg receiving member with a foot supporting upright backportion, a laterally projecting pin adjacent each corner of the legreceiving member, vertical grooves on the iiiner faces of the sidemembers adapted to lockingly receive the pins, and a vertical series ofdownwardly inclined finger branches of each groove for selectivereception of the pins and establishment of the height and angle of theleg receiving member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a legsupporting stool embodying my invention;

FIG. 2 is a like view of the leg receiving cushioned member of the stoolof FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective showing of the lower supporting standard of thestool with the cushioned member removed;

FIG. 4 is another perspective view of the stool with the cushionedmember in a different position than that of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged side elevation of the stool; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged rear elevational view of the stool.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings inmore detail the stool 10 illustrated therein includes two majorcomponents, a cushion member 12 and a base assembly 14. The cushionmember has a main generally horizontal leg receiving portion 16 and arearwardly placed upright foot support 18.

Attached to the bottom of the cushion member 12 are two laterallyextending carrying rods 20 and 22 with reduced ends forming projectingpins 23 and 24.

The stool base assembly 14 has vertically extending sides 26 and 28. Cutinto the forward inner face of side member 26 in the upwardly extendingportion 32 is a vertical groove 30 with an upper open end and a closedlower end. Inclined downwardly from one side of the groove 30 is aseries of blind fingers or branches 30].

A similar vertical groove 34 with blind branches 34) are cut into theinner face of the rearwardly positioned upwardly extending section 36 ofthe base side member 26.

Comparable grooves 38 and 42 with lateral branches or fingers 38 and 42are present in the opposite base side member 28.

Cross rods 46, 4-8, 50, S2 and 54 firmly secure the base side members 26and 28 together to form the base unit 14.

In the assembling of the stool the gushion section 12 is brought downupon the base 14 with the pins 23 and 24 entering the upper open ends ofgrooves 30, 34, 38 and 42. Once so entered into the grooves the cushionsection 12 is not laterally displaceable.

With the height and angle desired for the cushion section 12 determined,the projecting pins 23 and 24 are laterally introduced into theappropriate blind branch grooves 30 .341, 38 and 42] whereby the cushionsection 12 is firmly positioned. Due to the locked engagement of thepins and the grooves no dislodgement is possible, and a wide range ofheights and angles is provided through the choice of branch grooves atboth ends of the base unit 14.

The depressed middle portions of the side members of the base assemblyconform in a general manner with the usual position of the support areaof the cushion and lateral entry of the legs of the occupant is thusfacilitated.

With legs stretched out in relaxed position feet tend to turn outwardlytwisting the legs unnaturally. The reception of the feet by the upright18 helps keep the feet perpendicular. Also the upward projection of theback extensions 36 and 44 of the sides 26 and 28 helps to prevent suchturning of the feet especially when the legs are spread apart.

T hefingers or branches 30 and 34f, -38f-and 42f are angled downwardlytoward the back end of the stool. As the thrust and weight of the legspositioned on the stool are rather backwardly directed, the cushion 12is pressed thereby with its pins 23 and 24'more positively maintained atthe bottom of the selected groove fingers.

A preferred structure of the sides of the base mem-{ ber is a laminationin which one lamina is cut crosswise to form the side walls of thegrooveand an adjacent lamina forms the base of the grooves.

In summary, the features of the invention include the single topentrance for the cushion pins into the vertical grooves and theresulting locking engagement whereby the cushion may notbe accidentallydislodged from the stool base 14. At the same time variations in theheight and angle of the cushion are easily attained by raising orlowering of the ends of the cushion and resetting the pins intodifferent branches of the grooves; also the medially depressed contoursof the sides of the stool base facilitate swinging the legs upon thecushion, and the foot receiving upright helps rest the feet and to holdthe legs in untwisted position.

Modifications in the design of the stool may be envisioned by thosefamiliar with the art without departing from the spirit of the inventionand the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A leg supporting stool having a base member composed of two vertical,opposed sides, cross members rigidly securing the sides together, a legreceiving member, pins rigidly fixed to and projecting laterally fromthe corner portions of the leg receiving member, vertical, substantiallystraight, grooves adapted to receive the pins on the inner surfaces ofthe sides of the base member near the ends thereof, said grooves beingopen at their upper ends for free entry of the pins, and a verticalseries of downwardly inclined blind fingers or short branches extendinglaterally from each groove for selectivtly receiving the pins andholding the leg receiving member at a desired height and angle, anupright portion located -at the rear end-of-the leg receiving-memberadapted for abutting the bottom of the feet placed on the leg receivingmember and in which the fingers extend rearwardly from tht grooves,whereby'the pressure of feet against the upright portion tends to holdthe pins in the fingers.

2. A leg supporting stool according to claim 1 in which the ends of thesides offthe base member extend upwardly above the middle portions ofthe sides and the openings therebetween are deeper adjacent the rear endof the leg receiving member for passage of feet being placed thereon. 1'I 3. A leg supporting stool according to claim. 1 in which the topfingerof each forwardly placed groove is open along itsupperlongitudinal boundary."

4. A leg supporting stool according to claim 1 in which said grooves aresubstantially wider than the pins to accommodate the varying horizontaldistances between the pins with different angling of the leg receivingmember.

5. A leg supporting stool according to claim .1 in which the blindfingers extend more horizontally than vertically from the generallyvertical grooves toaccommodate the varying horizontal distances betweenthe pins 'with different angling of the leg receiving member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,217,246 2/ 1917 Wallace 2974391,540,616 6/1925 Hagopian- 108-444 2,912,046 11/1959 Fuerst 2.974392,017,433 10/1935 Carrington 297439UX 1,985,807 12/1934 Steigerwald etal. 297-439 FOREIGN PATENTS 114,374 4/ 1918 Great Britain 297-4391,193,215 4/1960 Germany 297439 PAUL R. GILLIAM, Primary Examiner US.Cl. X.R.

